New changes have been introduced to the Green Homes @ North West programme to encourage households to have their units certified green, reported Channel NewsAsia.
This is part of an initiative jointly organised by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), National Environment Agency (NEA) and North West Community Development Council (CDC).
The changes include two new criteria as well as a three-tier ranking given to homeowners who fulfil the various criteria of a green home. It requires owners to choose a television with a five-tick energy efficiency rating and allow natural ventilation within their common living areas.
The previous criteria included having a recyclable collection corner, using an instantaneous water heater and owning an electrical appliance with three-tick rating on the new energy level.
Households that fulfil all seven criteria will be awarded a Platinum rating, Gold for four of the seven criteria, and Silver for three.
The launch of the enhanced programme on Saturday was attended by MPs from various constituencies within the North West district.
They included Acting Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Mayor of North West District Teo Ho Pin, Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs Amrin Amin, and fellow MPs from the North West District, Mr Vikram Nair, Mr Henry Kwek and Dr Lee Bee Wah.
The original programme had reached out to 19,000 owners of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats within the district. The enhanced programme aims to reach out to around 40,000 owners of existing and new housing units.
“Environmental ownership is one of the key efforts in terms of promoting green Singapore, and also the world,” said Dr Teo.
“We live in a world with limited resources and all of us can play a part to make it sustainable. One of the most sustainable habits is actually to go Green Living lifestyle. We hope that through all these green living habits, our residents can adopt a green living lifestyle and from there adopt Green Living in North West.”
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
